Unexpected

Getting to the Bottom of Things

"Everything." I said through a sigh of relief. "I want to know what's happening, what's going to happen."

"Right now S.H.I.E.L.D. most likely has Loki on a giant flying airship called a helicarrier, probably in some sort of prison area. These blips on the screens," he pointed at the computers that were right in front of us, "Are towers. The scepter gives off a frequency that we're using to try to track down their exact location. Once we've found him a squad of our men and I will fly out and attack the helicarrier, hoping to bring it down, get Loki, and separate the hero group Fury has put together."

"Fury? Who's that?" I'd never heard that name before.

"Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D." Barton shook his head, looking down with a huffed laugh, "I gotta say, he's pulling out all the stops on this one. He's got Iron Man, Captain America, and Nat in this team, who knows who else."

My mind flew back to the fight I had watched in Germany, remembering the red, white, and blue spangled man with the shield. Captain America? The super soldier from the 40's who got lost and frozen? He's back? How? And that thing that fell from the sky with the AC/DC music? Tony Stark, the Iron Man? What was he doing here? I'd watched on the news that he was building the Stark Tower, all that clean energy stuff, why was he in Germany? Apparently to combat Loki's schemes. My thoughts were interrupted by Barton continuing.

"The scepter also gives off 'chaos' I guess you can say. It would put people on edge; make them argumentative, anxious, upset. The best way to distract this team is to divide and conquer, making them fight each other. To do this, we're planning on releasing the Hulk."

"The Hulk?" my question came out louder than I expected in my shock, "The great big green thing that destroyed Harlem how many years ago?"

"That's the one."

"Wouldn't he just kill everyone off?"

"We're hoping that will keep the team busy enough for us to continue into the next stage of the plan." Barton answered like it was no big deal, letting his arms drop as he watched one of the scientists scurry by, "Once Loki is back our men will file out of here and we'll head for Stark Tower. Using the arc reactor we're going to jumpstart the cube and send the portal up into the air, and the army will come down and conquer the earth. We're hoping for as few deaths as possible, but this army is partially mechanical, with an order for full out war. We will have very little control over their actions once they're here. Once the battle is over and the earth is Loki's he will close the portal and with the Chitauri, that's what they're called, cut off from their space craft or whatever, they will be easy to kill if they don't go out phantom menace style from being cut off. That's the plan as far as I know it and have helped plan." He re-crossed his arms as he finished, looking back at the screens, "Now you know."

It was a lot for me to take in, and I just stared at the red blips pulsing on the screen as I tried to sift thought it all, "Okay." I muttered, unsure of what else to say. Now I had a much better idea of what was happening, what the plan was, but I didn't feel any better. In fact I felt a bit sick to my stomach. After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, I asked, "So, how long do you think it's going to take to find him?"

"Not sure. However long it takes one of those towers to pick up his signal. We've already crossed some areas out, but they can be anywhere in the ocean right now. Helicarriers are huge, full of technology and carrying a couple hundred people and some very sensitive cargo, so they don't fly too fast, and they have cloaking tech that we wouldn't be able to track except for the scepter."

"The scepter." I repeated with an unamused huff of a laugh, "It's a key in all of this."

Clint turned his head towards mine, a questioning look on his features.